Method of molding spoke-wheels and the product thereof.



N0. 707,2l3. Patented Aug. l9, I902.

G. H. DICKERSON &. J. M. GORDON.

METHOD OF MOLDING SPOKE WHEELS AND THE PRODUCT THEREOF.

(Application filed may 28, 1902.) (No Model.)

2 Sheeis$heat L WITNESSES: DJgWf/VTORS; "02*. 6753 21/, Wm GOZjoZp VAJ-TORNEI.

: NORms PETERS to; PNOTCLLIINQ. wasnlumou of:

No. 707,213. Patented u l9, I902.

a. H. DICKERSUN & J. M. GORDON. METHOD OF MOLDING SPOKE WHEELS AND THEPRODUCT THEREOF.

(Application filed May 28, 1902.)

(No Model.) 2 Shbets$heet 2.

WITNESSES: ]NVE1VTORS.-

. @1172- 70a 16 W. W. 8 gm. 613-020 ATTORNEY.

m: uunm's wmns 00.. wo-ufna, WASH NGYON. n 1.

PATENT" OFFICE.

GEORGE, i-I. DIGKERSON AND Joint GoRnoN, orooLUMBus ND A A.

METHODOF MOLDING SPOKE-WHEELS AND THE PRODUCT THEREOF. f

SPECIFICATION forming, 5m otJLettexs Patent No. 707,213, dated August19,1902.

- Application fisa'ua 2a19o2; serial No. 109,265. on model.) I

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 'we,'GEoRoE HI DICKER SON and JOHN M.-GORDON,' citizensof the" Our invention relates to a method of molding insand for castingwheels having wrought spokes, and has particular reference todriving-wheels for portable engines and the like vehicles, the hubsandrims of which are castiron and the spokes of which are formed either ofrolled bar-iron or of bar-steel or of tubing laid in the mold, andthe'rims and the hubs cast upon them. Our bbject is to mold such wheelsas above described in a simple manner in order principally to save timeand labor in the operation, and consequently cheapen the output of thefoundry, and specific objects are to avoid the use of parted flasks andmolds and also avoid the labor of handling them in molding the wheelsand to provide wheels as described that shall contain when finished thespokes that were parts of the pat-,

terns, so that the time and labor of placing the spokes in the moldafter removingthe pattern, as heretofore done, may be avoided.

Our invention consists in the method of building up the molds andinserting the patterns and the spokes and the product therei of, ashereinafter particularly described and claimed. 1

In order to fully explain the various steps in the method, we illustratethem in connection with suitable meanswhereby the desired results areattained in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 represents aperspective view of a wheel constructed accordingto our method; Fig. 2,a plan view of parts of the means usually employed in carrying out ourmethod; Fig. 3, a plan view of the mold in its first stage, in whichparts of the pattern are shownQa portion of the rim-pattern being brokenaway; Fig. 4, a fragmentary view of a portion ofithe rim-patternr Fig.5, a plan view of the mold in an advanced stage of formanta, Fig. 6,atop plan view ofthe upper half of the lower portion of the hub chill orcore; and Fig.7 is a bottom plan view of the same, also representing theupper plan of the lowerhalf of the same portion of the hub; Fig. 8, atop plan view of the chill or core for the middle portionof the hub;Fig. 9, a transverse vertical'sectional view of the complete mold readyfor pouring the metal thereinto; Fig. 10, a top plan view of the moldwhen nearly completed, showing partof the rimpattern as when beingremoved from the mold; Fig. 11, a top plan view of'the mold as' whennearly completed before applying the top plate; Fig.12, a fragmentarydetail view of'the rim-pattern; Fig. 13, adetailiview of a spoke end andboss-pattern, and Fig. 14: i

an end View of a spoke in the boss-pattern.

In the drawings similar reference characters indicate correspondingparts throughout.

' In moldinga wheel according to our method iron hub B, having'flanges band "d,"bosses c at the inner side of the rim A, wrought spokes e 6,extending into the bosses and into the hub-flanges, the flange I). beingdescribed herein as the lower flange or'lowerpor'tion of the hub, asseen in the illustrations and also as cast, but which when in use willbe the inner end of the hubtowhieh the driving gearwheel may be'bolted','the bolts to extend through the holes fin the flange. Usuallyribs (1 are also cast at the'in'ner' side of the rimA in line with thebosses c, all of which are of common form. The spokes, however, may becrossed near the flanges, if preferred. The

outer face of the rim Ais usually chilled, and

by our method we may al'so conveniently' chill the sides or edges of therim, which will be an advantage in preventing the edges from' iron plateD in the earthen floor l of the foundry, the upper face of the platebeing a plane even with the floor-surface and broad enough toaccommodate wheels of several different diameters, and a smaller butthicker iron plate E is likewise bedded in the floor at the center ofthe plate D. The plate E' has an annular flange g on its upper face, andpreferably has also a central aperture h. Once these plates are placedin the floor they may so remain permanently as parts of later molds.Succeeding steps comprise the placing of the rim-pattern upon the plateD and the under half G of the pattern or mold for the lower end portionof the hub upon the plat-e E, and then a center post F may be set uponthe plate E and extend into the center aperture 7b. The rim-pattern isto form the mold for only the inner face of the wheel-rim and the ribsthereon and is formed of two or more part-s,as Hand H',matchedorjointedtogether, as at'rm, and detachably coupled, as by means of ears 7.: andremovable pins Z. The rimpattern is as high upon the plate D as thewheel-rim is to be made in width of face. Obviously it is immaterialwhich one of the parts-the rim-pattern, the hub-pattern G, or the postFis placed first, as all may be placed sim ultaneously. By means of atram or a gage the rim-pattern is then set central with the center post,and as the pattern G is designed to fit into the flange 9 it will becentral with the post and also the rim-pattern. The pattern or mold Gwill be first made to conform to any desired shape of hub end desiredand will extend up to the plane of the centers of the lower set ofspokes, and it may be either in the form of a sand core or a metallicchill-mold, and if metallic it may be halved. Its upper face hasradiating groovesj therein and also holes 2', in which to place cores 1)for forming the bolt-holes f. The rim-pattern has holes on to receivethe ends of the spokes 6, having flattened extremities w, and the holesm may be large enough to receive the boss-patterns (J, the holesextending through the ribs q, or the bosses maybe designed to setagainst the ribs, but are not attached thereto. The bosspatterns eachhave a central hole adapted to receive the body part of the spoke andalso slots y at the sides of the holes to receive the broad flattenedparts 10. The lower set of spokes may now be provided each with abosspattern 0 and the flattened end thereof be inserted in the hole m,while the other end is to be laid in a groove j, and then the firstportion of sand 2 is to be put in between the rimpattern and the lowerhub pattern or chill and rammed, the boss-patterns being tucked upagainst the rim-pattern, the sand being brought up to the top of the hubpart G and to the spokes or somewhat higher, if it may so happen. Thenext step is to set the upper pattern G for the other part of theflange 1) upon the part G, the two parts preferably being suitablymatched or jointed, as by dowels or otherwise, so as to be true to theaxis.

The pattern G is halved if metallic, as a chill, so that it may beremoved from the cast hub, and if made of baked sand it should also behalved, and it has also holes 2' to support the cores p, and its lowerface has grooves jto receive the spoke end portions, and thus hold themin place. The halved hub-chill I may now be set upon the pattern G, andthen the pattern J, that forms part of the hub and the lower part of theflange d or upper portions of the hub, may be placed upon the chill I.

Next the upper set of spokes e are provided a each with a boss-pattern Oand set into the holes on and the grooves j. Now additional sand 3 maybe put in, as before, and rammed upon the sand 2 without any partingwhatever and brought up to the upper spokes, or this sand may be put injust before setting the upper spokes, as will be obvious. Now orjustbefore all the sand 3 is put in the molder should reach into thehub-patterns and draw the spokes e toward the center of the hubsufficiently to withdraw the spokes from the holes m in the rim-pattern,as one spoke is shown in Fig. 3, the sand mold now holding the spokes inplace. Following this step the upper part J of the pattern for the upperportion of the hub is to be placed upon the part J, the two parts J andI having the grooves j in their joint faces to receive the spokes, asbefore described. The boss-patterns C are to be tucked up against therimpattern, while the balance of the sand 4 is to be put in and rammedalso without any parting from the wet sand below. The sand is to bebrought up level with the top of the patterns. Now the upper spokes eshould be drawn in toward the hub center, so as to clear therim-pattern, the positions of the spokes as they would now appear beingindicated in Fig. 5, in which it is assumed that the spokes have not yetbeen covered with the sand; but the mold would, in fact, appear somewhatas indicated in Fig. 10. Next in order the rimpattern parts H H are tobe disconnected by first removing the pins ll and then drawing the partslaterally away from the sand mold, as the part II is shown in Fig. 10,after which the boss-patterns C are to be removed from the ends of thespokes and the spokes drawn outwardly, as some are shown in Fig. 10, soas to project from the mold of sand. The rim-chills K may now be set upon the plate D and gaged either from the post F or from the sand mold,and thus be set accurately, so that the cast rim will be ofuniformthickness. A band L is to be set also upon the plate D, eitherbefore or after setting the chills K, and it extends entirely about thechills a short distance from them, and dry sand 5 is to be placedbetween the chills and the rim for the purpose of holding the chills intheir proper positions and also permitting expansion of the chills. Tocomplete the mold, a suitable plate M is now placed upon the chills Kand also extending upon the sand mold. The post F will be removed andthe hub-core 7' ICO inserted in the center of the hub patterns orchills, and then a suitable plate N is to be placed upon the hub-patternJ, and suitable gates s and if having been provided the metal may now bepoured into the mold, so as to fill the spaces u to form the hub and oto form the rim, both of which are thus cast to the spokes that formedparts of the pattern in 'consistsin forming a non-parting green or dampsandmold within the confines of a rimpattern having ribs at the innerside thereof and adapted to be parted transversely of the rim, placingboss-patterns loosely upon separate spokes and setting the spokes at theribs of the rim-pattern and. also setting the boss-patterns against theribs of the rim-pattern while forming the mold, setting up sectionalprepared molds or patterns for the hub while forming the green-sandmold, parting the-rim-pattern and withdrawing the same outwardly as fromits axis from the greensand mold, removing the boss-patterns from thespokes and also'from the green-sand mold,

and setting a separate mold'about the greensand mold, substantially asdescribed.

2. The art of molding spoke-wheels, which consists in forming anon-parting green-sand.

mold within the confines of a rim-pattern having holes therein toreceive the ends of the spoke-patterns, setting the spoke-patterns inthe holes in the rim-pattern while forming the mold, drawing thespoke-patterns longitudinally from the holes in'the'rim-pattern afterforming the sand mold, withdrawing the rim-pattern from the sand mold,drawing the spoke-patterns oppositely to their former movements, andsetting a separate mold about the green sand mold, substantially asdescribed. I

3. The art of molding spoke-wheels, which consists in setting arim-pattern and a pattern for the lower end of the hub, placing separatespoke-patterns in connection with the rim and thehub patterns, settingcompanion hub patterns, placing other separate spoke-patterns inconnection with the rim and the companion hub patterns, gaging andadjusting the rim-pattern relatively to the hub-patterns, forming agreen-sand mold between the rim-pattern and the hub-patterns, drawingthe spoke-patterns longitudinally toward the axis of the hub-patterns,drawing the rim-pattern outwardly as from its axis from the sand mold,setting the mold for the outer face of the rim, and setting a platecoverupon the mold, substantially as described.

. 4:. The art of making spoke-wheels,;which consists in setting asectional rim-pattern and also a separated sectional hub-pattern,placingboss-patterns loosely upon separate spokepatterns and settingthe'spoke-patterns in connection with the rim and the hubjpatterns,setting the boss-patterns against the rim-pattern, forming a sand moldwithout a parting,

shifting the spoke-patterns longitudinally, re- I moving therim-patternfromthe mold without disturbing the hub-pattern, shifting thespoke-patterns, removing the boss-patterns from the'spoke-patterns andalso. from the mold, setting a pattern for the outer face of the rim,and pouring the metal between two separate plates to form the sides ofthe rim, substantially as described.

5. The art of making spoke-wheels, which consists in building up asectional-hub-exterior pattern, setting a sectional rim-pattern of fullwidth of face, setting spoke-patterns separately in connection with thehub and the rim patterns, forminga non-parting solid green-sand mold,-shifting the spoke-patterns inwardly,'removing the rim-pattern withoutdisturbing the hub-pattern,shifting the spokepatterns outwardly,settin gthe rim-face chills, setting a'band concentrically about therimfacechills, placing dry sand between the rimface chills and the band,setting opposing chill-plates so as to form the sides of the rim,casting the metal between the opposing chillplates 'and also within thehub exterior pattern, and then removing the chills and the hub-patternand the sand mold, leaving the spoke-patterns attached to the castings.-

6. The art of molding spoke-wheelshaving ribs at the inner face oftherim, which consists insettinga rim-pattern having ribs thereonand apattern for the lower end of, the hub, placing separate spokes inconnection'with the hub-pattern and also with the rim-pattern at theribs, setting boss-patterns loosely on the spokes against the rim-ribs,setting companion hub-patterns, placing other spokes in connection withthe rim-ribs andthe hub- 1 patterns, forming a green-sand mold' betweenthe rim-pattern and the hub'-patterns,-parting the rim patterntransversely thereof and drawing the partsthere'of outwardlyas from itsaxis away from the peripheral face of the sand mold, removingtheboss-patterns from the mold, and setting the mold for the outer faceof the wheel-rim,substantially as described.

In' testimony whereof we affixour signatures in presenceof twowitnesses.

GEORGE H. DIOKERSON. JOHN M. GORDON.

Witnessesz' BEN BLooH, M. D. EMIG.

